Jumping Dogs And Yuletide Logs: The Most Shared Ads Of November 2016

It should come as no surprise that November’s top ads list was dominated by all manner of Christmas cheer.

As fairy lights line our high streets and every pub and cafe dust off their festive playlists, so too have brands across the world been sharing their Yuletide visions with the social web. Christmas is always the time when brands show off their biggest ideas (and biggest budgets), and 2016 has been no exception.

Our number one is a no-brainer: John Lewis’ adorable ode to needy dogs everywhere, ‘Buster The Boxer’. While the retailer have gained a reputation as the crowning champions of Christmas advertising, ‘Buster The Boxer’ shows they haven’t grown complacent.

A tremendous tonal shift from last year’s ‘Man On The Moon’ (which some complained was too morose), this year’s campaign is unadulterated dose of silly escapism. Whether it’s a return to basics or a balm for troubled times, congratulations to John Lewis for continuing its hot streak.

John Lewis isn’t the only brand to go down the cute and cuddly route this Christmas. At number 5, Waitrose’s impressive ‘Coming Home’ presents a natural odyssey with the scope of a Planet Earth episode (though sadly lacking the Attenborough voiceover).

Meanwhile, Heathrow’s spot at number three tackles similar subject matter, using plush toys to illustrate the joys of reuniting with family over the holidays. It may look like viral marketing for a Paddington Bear sequel, but we swear it isn’t.

The same goes for Marks & Spencer’s lavish ‘Mrs Claus’, which finds Mrs. Claus pursuing her own gift-giving with the judicious use of some kind of attack helicopter. While other brands have gone small scale this year, M&S has undoubtedly produced one of the blockbuster efforts of the season.

German supermarket Lidl also pushed out all the stops with its musical spot ‘Santa Clara’. A great mix comedy, music and inspiration, the spot bagged over 300,000 shares last month, putting it in fifth.

This year’s spot is not quite so tough to watch, but it takes a similar familial slant. Like Tesco’s ‘Bring It On’, the spot cheekily acknowledges everything that’s annoying, oppressive and stressful about the holiday season, before concluding that’s part of why we like it.

It’s nearly as sweet a message as we see in Amazon Prime’s simple message of hope and tolerance, ‘A Priest and an Iman Meet For Tea’, which just missed out on a top 10 place at #11. Though it seems like the title says it all, the spot has a surprising and charming twist.

Further down, we find non-Yuletide efforts from UNICEF and BMW. The former broaches the topic of air pollution with a timely and chilling montage of children breathing, intercut with footage of industrial damage and environmental collapse. While it’s not exactly a pleasant watch, UNICEF has crafted a spot that will hopefully stay with viewers.

Rather less grave, BMW’s hilarious new spot demonstrates the pitfalls of squeezing out of a poorly-parked car, making use of a remarkably deadpan gymnast, all in aid of their revolutionary ‘remote control’ parking.